The Girl Who Left Home to Learn David Hockney

Digital version of my sketch of David Hockney’s etching of Rapunzel.

Oh, I had such a fantastical afternoon, once upon a too bright Saturday.

I found my way into the strangely dim, yet clear light of a brand new art center and its surprising gem of a show: David Hockney‘s Etchings from his book, “Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm“. These fairy tales are gritty and surreal, the feeling echoed by the gallery’s windowless rooms and dark ceiling floating somewhere above a suspended metallic grid.

Melani Grube at the David Hockney Etchings for the Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm exhibit, in the Madison Station Arts and Culture Center, Rancho Cordova, California.

It was a strange contrast, then, to be greeted so warmly, by the Mills Station Arts and Culture Center‘s event coordinator, Cheryl Gleason. Her voice set the tone for the experience with its friendly enthusiasm. She is a huge fan of David Hockney’s work and had plenty to share with me to add to my knowledge base.

A David Hockney book cover with his self-portrait.

She told me Mr. Hockney, who was born in England, but has resided in the U.S. for many years now, is the best selling, living American artist. He is also a prolific artist, working in multiple media. Up to now, I knew him only for his paintings, but here his etchings hung before me, and Ms. Gleason showed me images of his collages.

A painting by David Hockney, depicted in the book, “David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition”. And a gallery wall exhibiting David Hockney’s framed etchings.

A depiction of collage art from David Hockney in a book about his artwork.

And it was a magical surprise to find his artwork in a former way station of Sacramento, the city of Rancho Cordova, so far from the metropolitan art centers you’d expect his art to be reserved to.

The fairy tales offered bizarre scenes, such as the boy curled up inside the fish who swallowed him, in The Little Sea Hare tale. And the giant cat leaping at the seated boy in The Boy Who Left Home to Learn Fear tale. But there were also moments of grace, as in the illustration of a nodding blossom whose heady scent I swear I could smell.

I ached to take pictures of the etchings, but photos were not allowed. Luckily for me, Ms.Gleason encouraged me when I asked about sketching the pictures. So, I chose a Rapunzel illustration to reproduce in my sketchbook. You see it here in my original blue marker version. You saw the digital capture of this sketch at the top of this post. I thought the process rather like an updated version of creating an etching.

A sketchbook rendering in pen and ink by Melani Grube of David Hockney’s etching, “Rapunzel, the Older”, for his book, “Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm”.

And while I had entered a new world when I stepped into the gallery and took my first round with the etchings, I discovered yet another world as I sketched. I slipped under the spell of observation. I held the details of the etching in my mind before I drew them on the paper. I memorized the proportions, the textures, the angles, the curves. I came upon Hockney’s decision of how to best portray the blonde quality of Rapunzel’s hair in black and white. I found how he gave both scale and vulnerability to the portrait by way of the lilies Rapunzel holds in her hands. I worked the uniform grid of squares in the background while letting Rapunzel’s human quality flow in front of it. I was chatting in silence with the great artist, in my imagination.

The gracious event coordinator had also brought her video of David Hockney and had it playing for those interested. And from her very own collection, she shared books on Hockney for visitors to browse through.

The books included the exhibit’s subject, “Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm”, with a fabric cover of the same gridded texture that Hockney used in his etchings. And I discovered that the Rapunzel illustration I had finished sketching only moments ago graced the book’s cover: surprise!

This is the exhibit’s final weekend at the Mills Station Arts and Culture Center. Finding this hidden gem is much easier than most of the trials the fairy tale characters had to submit to. Be sure to leave home and find your very own fantastical world at the Mills Station Arts and Culture Center.

I saw, I sketched, I was transformed.

Melani Grube as Rapunzel, collage self-portrait.

And I lived happily ever after.

To see my other pieces inspired by famous artwork, see here.

What is your favorite fairy tale?